Manchin on push for centrist 2024 candidates: ‘The country was not designed to be this divided’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) made the case for centrist candidates in the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, arguing that the country was “not designed to be this divided,” amid recent speculation about a potential third-party White House bid.

“The political parties have become so extreme — going to the extreme left and extreme right — that the average common-sense people don’t have a home. They’ve been left politically homeless,” Manchin told radio talk show host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM’s “The Cats Roundtable.”

“The country was not designed to be this divided,” the conservative Democrat added.

However, he also argued that the American people themselves aren’t divided, instead blaming the two major political parties for the current polarization.

“The people in New York aren’t divided, or in West Virginia,” Manchin said. “It’s basically the political parties in Washington with their business model that they get better returns and their business does much better when you’re fighting and dividing each other versus uniting each other.”

Manchin fueled speculation of a potential third-party bid earlier this week after he spoke at a town hall event sponsored by No Labels, a centrist group that plans to field a third-party “unity ticket” in the 2024 election. 

The West Virginia Democrat has so far refused to rule out a third-party bid, stoking fear among Democrats who worry it would harm President Biden’s chances at a second term. However, Manchin claimed on Monday that he wasn’t at the New Hampshire event to run for president.

“I’m here trying basically to save the nation,” he said. “I’m concerned more now than I’ve ever been concerned in my lifetime.”